Monthly Archives: October 2017

Have you heard of the magician Dirk Arthur? It seems that many people haven’t, but that didn’t stop the Westgate in Las Vegas from hiring him on as their new act. Dirk Arthur is going to attempt to evade animal activists by only using a bobcat and a snow leopard on his act. His show was set to debut on November 1st, and for reasons unknown to us, was pushed back to November 15th at 6 pm.

Jonathan Kraft, Founder and Director of Keepers of the Wild spoke out two years ago stating, “Times have changed and it’s just appalling how these animals live on concrete, from box to box to box. They’ve got a miserable life and it’s really a terrible form of abuse”. He is the authority to speak to given the fact that Jonathan became an animal activist after training two cubs for a Las Vegas production and witnessing the abuse and neglect provided by other animal trainers.

Dirk Arthur says he is for conservation, but he has been cited by federal agencies for serious violations of the Animal Welfare Act, including forcing tigers and a lion to undergo a painful declawing surgery. This procedure amputates the last joint on each toe, and is highly frowned upon. He has also kept his large cats in metal cages with no protection from the harsh elements in temperatures over 100 degrees.

When Dirk Arthur performed during the last days of the Riviera, I hosted several protests in front of the hotel that attracted media attention. It was truly a shock when the Westgate picked up his bill. We also protested him during his last run at Westgate. Animal Defenders International released an expose, and he quietly ran away. Activists are already beginning to plan to put constant pressure on the hotel until they drop the show for good this time.

The Las Vegas activist pod will be coming together once again this holiday season to convince tourists that there is nothing cheery about visiting the Mirage Hotel and Casino as long as animals are used as an entertainment attraction. We will be meeting for our 3rd Annual “Thanks but No Tanks!” protest that happens the Saturday following Thanksgiving.

Tourism is slow for our city during Thanksgiving holiday weekend, but Las Vegas is a popular destination for those who are seeking to travel away for the holidays due to cheap hotel rooms. According to the LA Times, it is especially common for Asian tourists from Southern California.

Our goals for this protest are to engage with the tourists and passersby in conversation about the horrors behind the captive dolphin industry and convince them to not purchase a ticket to any facility that holds dolphins. We will be displaying posters to motorists and pedestrians, and handing out educational brochures regarding the local #MojaveDolphins campaign.

Empty the Tanks 2014

We are speaking out on behalf of the 13 dolphins that have been documented to have died prematurely within the Mirage Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. We are the voices of Beetle, Sgt Pepper, Sage, Squirt, Rascal, Picabo, Banjo, Sigma, Darla, Bugsy, Merlin, and the calves of both Darla and Sigma. We will continue splashing for Duchess, Lightning, Huf-N-Puf, Maverick, Osbourne, Sophie, Bella, K2, Miramar, and Coco. We will never be silent.

There’s a new mobile billboard truck running down the Las Vegas strip this week, have you seen it?

On October 21st 2017, Compassionworks International hosted an event outside of the Mirage Hotel to raise awareness about both the dolphins and the wild cats confined within the Secret Garden attraction. There were other “Freedom Matters” events held around the country: Franklin Park Zoo (Boston, MA), Los Angeles Zoo (Los Angeles, CA), and Brookfield Zoo (Brookfield, IL).

The protest outside of the Mirage Hotel included something special… a mobile billboard truck rolling down the always populated Las Vegas strip for a week of advertising. The sides of the truck display messages such as “MY HOME IS IN THE OCEAN”, and “JAILED WITHOUT A CRIME”, “CONFINED FOR YOUR AMUSEMENT”, and “CAPTIVITY IS CRUELTY”.

The dolphin habitat in Las Vegas has been operational for 27 years as of this month. Duchess has been held in these same pools for nearly 3 decades. Her offspring are now having to raise their offspring in the filthy, uncovered, man-made habitats. This is unacceptable, and we are outraged. Continue to phone your messages to the hotel at (702) 791-7111. You can also use the pre-written tweet below:

We will continue to document the conditions these animals are held in, raise awareness on how it’s wrong to purchase tickets to view their suffering, and hold events outside of the Mirage Hotel. Our next event will be our 3rd annual “Thanks But No Tanks” protest held the Saturday after Thanksgiving.